BBS

The Bastard Operator From Hell (BOFH) is more than a fictional character; he’s a satirical icon for IT professionals everywhere, embodying the frustrations and, occasionally, the mischief of system administration in the early days of computing. Created by Simon Travaglia in 1992, the BOFH character captures the power struggle between sysadmins and users in the wild west era of Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) and multi-user systems.

Through exaggerated, often darkly humorous antics—deleting files, locking accounts, and fabricating logs—the BOFH highlights the incredible power sysadmins wielded and the ethical gray areas they sometimes navigated. While ruthless, the BOFH also serves as a cautionary tale, showing the potential consequences of unchecked control in IT. Today, he remains a cultural touchstone for IT professionals, reminding us of the early days when technical expertise was synonymous with digital authority.